Entries from November 8th, 2013

Nov 8, 2013

The days of mixed tapes and burnt CDs may have passed, but sharing good music will never grow old. So we’re excited to bring you Music Library, a monthly playlist series bringing you songs both old and new. We’ll be mixing things up each post, inviting different folk from across the country – including a variety of designers, musicians, artists and brands – to share their music taste with us.

Today, we thought we’d ask someone close to home. Paul (EQ3’s Senior Graphic Designer) was an obvious choice. He loves to play his music loud for all to hear.

Our interview with Eames Demetrios was both exciting and inspiring. We could have sat with him for hours, asking question after question about his grandparents, legendary Mid-Century Modern designers Charles and Ray Eames. Of course, like all good things, the interview was a bit of a blur and ended much too soon!

So we were pretty excited to receive a couple of signed copies of Eames’ newly released and updated edition of An Eames Primer (keep reading for a chance to win one of them)! The book offers an in-depth look at Charles and Ray’s legacy. It’s easy to forget how expansive the Eameses reach was and that they crossed almost every creative industry out there. They really did do it all. And, Eames Demetrios’ book showcases this in a very personal way, writing from the perspective of both Charles and Ray’s grandson and Director of the Eames Office.

Eames originally wanted to keep the book free of pictures or imagery, but he ended up including a selection of old photographs, images and sketches that give the book an Encyclopedia (or Wikipedia) feel. We’re not sure if this was the intended effect, but it helps to illustrate the variety of projects Charles and Ray worked on and draws attention to the lesser-known of these.

Nov 5, 2013

Today we’re taking you inside Kal Barteski’s art studio to discover what it’s really like to be a full-time painter and designer. She began taking drawing lessons around as a young girl and studied graphic design in college. She’s been painting and designing full-time ever since, and today she’s known around the world for her acrylic canvas paintings, art prints and brush script illustrations.

“I was always a painter,” says Kal. You can feel it, too, when you talk with her. She’s animated and passionate – it’s easy to see that this profession is more than just a job to her. In fact, art filters into every part of her life. She sees everything as art, describing it as “a moment and how it’s translated through the senses.”

Her client/project list includes a 3-year campaign with Vita Coco coconut water out of Brazil with Rhianna and Kelly Slater, last year’s Fashion Week in Paris, DeLeon tequila, The Minimalist, and Canada’s very own UPPERCASE Magazine to name a few. Other creds include a role in a documentary for Animal Planet and a TEDx Talkthis year, which aired earlier this fall. She’s currently working on a 3-year campaign with European company Estrella Damm (the beer of Barcelona)!

Artist Kal Barteski sipping a cuppa’ in her third-floor art studio.

A TYPICAL DAY IN THE LIFE

Kal starts her day in front of the computer in the third-floor art studio of her old character home. She spends about an hour catching up on the internet (reading papers, checking on Twitter and Facebook) and drinking as many cups of coffee as she can.

With her caffeine fix covered, Kal puts on her headphones to shut out the world. And, after that, everyday is different. Kal changes up the music genre daily (music is through her RDO account) and then she, in her words, “just goes for it.” Some days are spent at her easel working on a canvas painting, while others are spent crouched on her knees scripting words with black paint.

She gets lost in her work for the rest of the morning and afternoon. Then at 4:30pm, Kal packs up her brushes and her nanny leaves for the day. Kal spends the evening with her three children and once the kids are asleep in their beds, she and her husband begin shipping out orders. This goes on for the remainder of the night, usually wrapping up around midnight.

Nov 4, 2013

You’ve likely seen these beauties before – the new Eve Sofa and Eve Chair enjoyed a prominent spot on the front cover of the 2013 – 2014 EQ3 Catalogue – but we’re thrilled to officially launch the new upholstery collection today.

Eve is made and designed in Canada, and boasts a clean metropolitan aesthetic. Designed to be as comfortable as it is beautiful, the collection is constructed with a feather seat topper and feather filled back cushion, as well as bench-style seating that features a sandwiched cushion with high resiliency foam core, no sag spring suspension and feather top.

And, check out those killer legs…

Eve’s exclusive die cast aluminum legs were custom designed right here at the EQ3 head office. Legs feature an arrow design that guides attachment and a slot hole that provides two installation options – one where the leg is showcased and one where it’s inset – allowing individuals to personalize the sofa’s design to their preference.

The collection includes a sofa, loveseat, chair, ottoman, and several sectional components. The Eve is currently available in all EQ3 fabrics. Look forward to Eve in leather soon!

Nov 1, 2013

One of the driving factors behind the EQ3 Inhabit blog is our desire to share our passion for design and explore culture and various art forms. As part of this never-ending search for inspiration and ideas, we’ve decided to create a catalogue of sorts – a growing list of design resources in literature (books, journals, magazines, etc.) and film. The blog seemed like a permanent and personal space to house the list, so with that, we’d like to log our first entry.

We caught a late night screening of Andreas Dalsgaard’s new documentary, The Human Scale, back in September at the local Cinematheque, an event held in conjunction with The Winnipeg Design Festival. According to Dalsgaard, the architectural film explores “…the way we live in cities today, and how our social nature and habits are connected to the physical habitat we live in.” After watching the film, we can attest to the accuracy of this statement. With an educational background in both film and social anthropology, the Denmark-based director brings life and human insight to the architectural film scene. Dalsgaard goes beyond buildings, and addresses the importance of designing cities scaled for humans – not cars.

Dalsgaard draws examples from Danish architect Jen Ghel’s work as an illustration for change. Ghel spent years studying people in Italy and how they interact with their city, which he later used to re-plan and restructure Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as other Nordic cities. Ghel’s work emphasizes cities designed to encourage interaction and intimacy among people, completely opposing the trend in modern urban planning, which emphasizes isolation and individualism.

Dalsgaard breaks the documentary up into 5 short chapters, with each one focusing on a different city – Melbourne, New York, Chongqing, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Christchurch – that has somehow been or is being inspired by architect Ghel’s planning strategies. The New York case study, for example, looks at how the city reclaimed Time Square from motorists and made it into a space for people to congregate and essentially, live. The film’s a must see for anyone interested in (or concerned about!) the world’s current physical and social ecosystems.

About This Blog

Welcome to Inhabit!

At EQ3, we love to explore Canada's design, art and culture scene. And, we want to share that with you.

You'll find designer interviews, learn about different crafts, and discover new books and films to read or watch. You'll find other fun things too, like blogger home tours, music playlists, freebie printables, and contest announcements, as well as EQ3 behind the scenes footage, product intros and more.

Disclaimer

All comments posted on this blog are moderated and will not appear in the comment section until the author has approved them. We ask that you help us create a positive environment by sharing respectful and relevant comments. Please note that the author reserves the right to block inappropriate comments, at their discretion.